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January 30, 2005
The Food of the Gods
Just finished my favourite meal. Rib-eye steak, roasted potatoes, mushrooms and red wine.
Sure beats fish caserolle !
Posted by OldGuy at 1:40 AM | Comments (2)
January 28, 2005
Still playing around
I'm starting to figure out what's what in the template and am changing fonts and colours to my heart's content.
I'll get just right but for now it's kinda fun to play with it.
Now I gotta figure out this trackback thing. I read cnm's post about it and tried it this morning but I think I messed it up, tracked my comment back to myself somehow. Sort of like a jungle guide leading the great white hunter through the jungle and back to the hunter's camp where the hunter shoots the guide's pet elephant.
Posted by OldGuy at 7:42 PM
January 27, 2005
Changing moods, changing shades
Not sure how I did it but my name goes from light blue to dark blue when you hover over it.
Guess I'll keep playing around, see what else I can do.
Wow, changed the font too ! Now I can read it without putting my nose on the screen.
Posted by OldGuy at 6:45 PM | Comments (1)
January 26, 2005
Anybody have the parenting guide ?
With all the time and effort that has been devoted to the subject of parenting there must be a definitive guide on the subject by now.
You know the one. It has all the answers to all the questions and situations that present themselves. If you have it, please pass it along.
Why ? Because just when I thought I was doing a good job something comes up that makes me rethink things.
It happened yesterday. A situation has come up (well, not so much come up, rather it persists) and I'm questioning how I've dealt with it until now.
It was pointed out to me that in order to resolve this situation I have to be less of a friend and more of a father. The problem is that this means coming down a little harder than I've done in the past and it's not going to be easy. See, I do tend go easy on my kids, try to spare them if I can.
Why do I do this ?
Is it fear of conflict ? Could be, I do like peace and quiet in my life. Is it that I don't want to hurt my kids ? Could be that too, certainly when they hurt I hurt.
Whatever the reason, this kind of parenting can lead to problems in the long run.
Anyway, if anybody has such a guide please let me know, I could use it. In the meantime I'll just keep muddling along.
Posted by OldGuy at 2:50 PM | Comments (1)
January 22, 2005
Blogging again
What scared me about blogging the first time around was that it looked complicated. Templates over here, categories over there, pings and trackbacks and configurations somewhere else ! They all got in the way of the writing when I just wanted to write. So I decided to go with a journal instead.
But here's the thing. The journal seems like the wrong way to go after all. Sure it's my thoughts, my struggles, my stories if you will, but they're just hanging out there all by themselves looking way too personal and completely alone.
So why not write a private journal, keep my thoughts to myself. Who cares what I think anyway ? Because I like to tell stories that's why. And let's face it, every time we open our mouths we tell a story. Our story.
But you know what else ? If you're going to tell stories you have to be willing to listen to other people's stories because they have something valuable to contribute. And what's the best place to do that ? Amongst friends, amongst people from your community, whereever it may be.
Like this community right here.
So I guess I'll try blogging again. I can still write my stories and worry about the technical stuff later.
As for the journal, it was a start and I still have it.
Posted by OldGuy at 6:57 PM | Comments (3)
January 20, 2005
First try
It worked !!
Now I have to go to the library, see if they have "Weblogs for Dummies".
Posted by OldGuy at 6:18 PM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2005
And I Lost My Best Friends
I’m not sure I conveyed the message I wanted to in the above post so let me try again.
My parents weren’t just parents, they were friends. These people adopted me, raised me and helped mould me into the person I am today. As parents usually are, they were there for me when I needed them, and as kids often do, I turned to them in times of trouble; for help, for advice or just to hear them say things would get better.
I also mentioned sanctuary and I want to pursue that thought too. Home is a sanctuary. It’s the place you go to when you need to get away from it all or when things aren’t going well in your life. When you get older, get married, have kids, you may not go there as often as you used to, maybe you only get there at Christmas, Easter and other special occasions, but you know it’s still there waiting for you if you need it.
So when my parents died I lost my friends and I lost my sanctuary.
It felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach but I finished growing up
Posted by OldGuy at 10:03 AM
January 18, 2005
I Finished Growing Up
My mother died in April of 1995. She had heart problems for some time so her death was not unexpected, in fact in a way it was a small blessing. No longer would she be hospitalized every few months so doctors could spend weeks trying to get rid of all the fluid that had accumulated in her lungs because her heart wasn’t strong enough to do it. No longer would my father spend days on end walking hospital corridors wondering if she would live through this latest crisis. And no longer would I be called in the middle of the night to hear the dreaded words “you’d better come home, your mother isn’t going to make it this time.”
A few weeks later one of my maternal uncles died. Although I didn’t attend that funeral my father did, and it was tough on him. Here he was attending another funeral not even a month after burying his wife. On his way home (he had a 6-7 hour drive) he stopped at his sister’s place to spend the night and he gave me a call and asked me to drop by as he had some stuff for me. We had a drink and talked a bit and he said he’d like to move a little closer, get a place near his sister’s so he could visit her and our family, maybe spend more time with his grandson.
That was the last time I saw him; 2-3 weeks later he was found dead in his apartment.
I wasn’t just sad when my dad died, I was angry, furious to be exact.
Here I had lost my mother a little over a month ago and now my dead was dead too. This wasn’t fair. I mean my dad was my friend and we were going see each other more often and yeah, console each other about my mother’s death, share some memories and he died instead.
Anyway, here it is almost 10 years later and the best thing I can say about that awful time is that I finished growing up.
See, your parents have to love you, it’s their job. They’re there for you whenever you need advice or a place to go to when you need to get away from it all, call it a sanctuary if you will.
When they die though you’re on your own. You make the decisions, you take the risks and you take the falls. And when you do you fall there’s nobody there to pick you up but you.
So although I miss my parents their deaths forced me to grow up that last little bit.
Posted by OldGuy at 3:32 PM
January 13, 2005
Great Teachers, Great Guys
I had a couple of teachers years ago, names of Mr. Halliwell and Mr. Kendricks. Halliwell was my gym teacher and Kendricks taught math.
Mr. Halliwell was a little guy with black hair and glasses, looked kind of geeky. I remember one gym class when we had to climb the rope. It looked pretty easy until you actually tried it and then about halfway up you realized you might not make it and now you had a choice. You could keep trying but your hands might get really sweaty and you’d lose your grip and fall or you’d make it almost to the top and have a heart attack and fall; either way you were dead. Or you could just give up and climb back down and face your friends’ ridicule.
After several of us had tried without success Mr. Halliwell proceeded to show us how it was done. He jumped on the rope and climbed it right to the top using just his hands. It was amazing. I mean here was this little guy who didn’t look like he could climb a ladder, much less a rope, going up and down that thing like a monkey. Eventually he told us he’d done this in the army or something, or maybe it wasn’t the army, maybe he just came to the gym in the middle of the night when the rest of us were asleep and climbed that damn rope.
Now Mr. Kendricks wasn’t fit but he was big, really big, like a refrigerator (or so it seemed to me at the tender age of 12). He had a deep booming voice too. Nice guy until you made him mad and then you would realize you’d made a terrible mistake. One time this one kid really ticked him off because he hadn’t done his homework for like the 3rd time in a row. I can't remember if Mr. Kendricks actually hit him (remember these were the days when if a teacher smacked you and you went home and told your parents they didn’t sue they just smacked you too) but he sure scared the hell out of him. Us too.
Anyway, the really neat thing about these two guys was the relationship they had. Mr. Halliwell was a Kiwi and Mr. Kendricks was an Aussie so they were constantly ribbing each other, pretending they couldn’t stand to be in the same room together. In actual fact they were great friends and they both had guitars and could sing like nobody’s business. I remember a couple of school trips they got out their guitars and sang and played and they were fantastic together.
Those guys were cool.
Posted by OldGuy at 1:19 PM
January 11, 2005
The Tsunami
Like millions of people around the world I have watched in shock and horror the reports of the tsunami disaster in South-East Asia.
Every day we hear of more villages wiped off the face of the earth and more dead bodies found. As well, the count of the missing, most of who will never be found, continues to mount.
Not surprisingly, it is the faces of the children that stay with us; little ones who have lost brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers or entire families. Every time I see one of them I wonder what their life will be like. I watched a show the other night where they showed children in a makeshift refugee camp. One child had indeed lost her entire family, in fact her whole village was gone. Where will she go? Who will take care of her if or when she leaves the camp? How will she cope with her loss once she realizes the enormity of it ?
Perhaps as children it will be easier for them to deal with this disaster; certainly children are very resilient and have an amazing capacity to adapt. But how do you adapt to the fact that your entire life has been swept away ?
Aid agencies, governments and individuals from all over the world have rushed to help the victims of the tsunami disaster.
Now a higher force needs to come to their assistance.
Posted by OldGuy at 2:27 PM
January 6, 2005
Reality TV - NOT
I’m not a television addict but I do like to watch a few hours a week. Takes the mind off things for a while, allows me to relax. Or at least it used to.
The problem is finding something good to watch. The last couple of years have seen the rise of so called reality shows and these now fill the airwaves. Every time I turn on the tv, or telly as some folks refer to it, (that reminds me of Telly Monster from Sesame Street; now that was a good show, lots of big stars and great skits. But I digress) I’m treated to scenes of people eating bugs or building campfires on remote islands so they can cook an itty bitty fish that wouldn’t feed an infant or walking a tightrope between tall buildings. Or sometimes it’s a beautiful woman or a handsome man trying to decide whom he or she will spend the rest of their lives with. Or the next few weeks if they eventually realize they can’t stand each other.
And speaking of spending, there’s usually money involved. Big money ! Like a million dollars if the winner eats the bugs, doesn’t get thrown off the island, gets the girl or guy, stays in the haunted house for a night, or whatever.
I saw one a couple of years ago where the contestants had to answer questions and if they got the wrong answer John McEnroe would fire a tennis ball at their heads. Well, not at their heads exactly but at a net hung near their heads. After all, can’t have people getting hit by tennis balls traveling in excess of 100 miles an hour. They might sue the network, maybe even sue John .
Does anybody remember “The Weakest Link ?” Now there was a fun show. Get a wrong answer and a woman in a long black coat who looked like a reject from an old Hammer film (gosh I used to love those, Dracula, Dracula has Risen from the Grave, Bride of Dracula. Classics all. But I digress again) heaped verbal abuse upon you. Maybe teachers should try this technique in school. That should get our kids attention eh ?
Of course we have the dysfunctional families too. Can’t forget them, makes us feel like we’re not alone. “Hey Dad, look, they’re just like us !” You know who I mean, the rock star who has trouble putting two words together and his brood and the mobster’s daughter from New York and her merry band.
The list goes on. Some last forever and some get axed within a couple of weeks, only to be replaced by something equally bizarre.
So what’s wrong with these shows ? Most of them are so far removed from reality, at least my reality anyway, that they should be called science fiction. My reality does not consist of eating weird foods, spending days and nights on remote desert islands or applying for a job with Trump Enterprises. My reality consists of eating chicken nuggets and fries, maybe steak on weekends, going to the same job every day and coming home to my family at night.
I’d rather watch a rerun of MASH or Doctor in the House than one of these shows any day.
Posted by OldGuy at 2:28 PM
January 4, 2005
You Call This Customer Service ?
My wife and I had an experience in customer service (or rather lack thereof) yesterday that was quite unpleasant.
My wife made an appointment with a certain office in December and called back later to cancel it. Through a series of miscommunications the office was not made aware of the cancellation so was trying to get hold of us about the appointment. Anyway, long story short my wife made contact with the office yesterday, two days before the appointment to say that she had cancelled the appointment some time ago.
Here’s where things get interesting. A couple of hours later the secretary called my wife and proceeded to berate her for canceling the appointment at the last minute and for not returning her previous calls. She told my wife that she did not understand how the system works and that she (the secretary) would see to it that my wife never gets an appointment again from anyone in this city. She then said a few other choice words and hung up.
Throughout the entire conversation my wife was attempting to explain her side of the story but she never got the chance. When she got off the phone she was shocked, angry and visibly shaken. I was quite upset as well.
I called the office back and left a message for the secretary to call me back, which she did a few minutes later. She tried to bully me the way she had bullied my wife but I would have none of it. After several minutes on the phone she finally, grudgingly, apologized and promised that we could call back for an appointment at any time. If the time ever comes I intend to hold her to her word.
So what is the crux of the issue here ? It was the way the secretary treated my wife. Period. Nothing else. Nada.
Why do I say this ? Well, I have been in customer service for more than 10 years now and I can assure you that if I had ever treated someone that way I would have been fired on the spot. I don’t care who said or did what before this, the treatment my wife received was absolutely shameful. Not only that but the whole incident wasted approximately 1 hour of our and the secretary’s time. We were also left with a very bad taste for this office.
Now, I’m not blowing my own horn here (well, maybe a little) but if I had been on the other end of the phone this whole issue would have been resolved in five minutes and everybody would have gone away happy. How do I know this ? Because I do this sort of thing every day and I’m good at it. I even train other people how to do it, and I’m good at that too.
Here are a few important concepts to keep in mind when dealing with people. They’re not that hard to remember and they fix almost any problem; tact, courtesy, diplomacy, discretion and professionalism.
Too bad some people have never heard of them.
Posted by OldGuy at 3:02 PM
January 1, 2005
New Year's Day Blessing
When I was growing up we had a tradition in our house that I still remember to this day.
Every New Year's day we would ask my father for his New Year's blessing. My mother probably asked for us when we were very young but once my brother and I were old enough we were expected to do it.
Every New Year's morning we would figure out whose turn it was and then one of us would ask him for the blessing. We would then gather in the kitchen or the living room and he would say a prayer and bless us and wish us health and happiness for the upcoming year.
I never realized how important this tradition was to my father until one year when we forgot to ask. Later that day my mother came to us and said that my father was waiting. I can't remember which one of us finally approached him but I do remember that his face lit up then he got very serious while we knelt before him and waited.
Now that I look back on it I realize that my father saw the blessing as his duty and his New Year's gift to us; his way of asking God to watch over us while also reassuring us that he would do the same.
Posted by OldGuy at 5:42 PM